Introduced Version
Senate Bill 62 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 62
(By Senator Hunter)
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[Introduced January 11, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-1C-10 and §11-1C-11 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to providing tax
incentives to nonresidential owners of managed timberland to
allow the general public to use the land for recreational
purposes; and providing legislative findings.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-1C-10 and §11-1C-11
of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1C. FAIR AND EQUITABLE PROPERTY VALUATION.
§11-1C-10. Valuation of industrial property and natural resources
property by Tax Commissioner; penalties; methods;
values sent to assessors.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Industrial property" means real and personal property
integrated as a functioning unit intended for the assembling, processing and manufacturing of finished or partially finished
products.
(2) "Natural resources property" means coal, oil, natural gas,
limestone, fireclay, dolomite, sandstone, shale, sand and gravel,
salt, lead, zinc, manganese, iron ore, radioactive minerals, oil
shale, managed timberland as defined in section two of this
article, and other minerals.
(b) All owners of industrial property and natural resources
property each year shall make a return to the State Tax
Commissioner and, if requested in writing by the assessor of the
county where situated, to such county assessor at a time and in the
form specified by the commissioner of all industrial or natural
resources property owned by them. The commissioner may require any
information to be filed which would be useful in valuing the
property covered in the return. Any penalties provided for in this
chapter or elsewhere in this code relating to failure to list any
property or to file any return or report may be applied to any
owner of property required to make a return pursuant to this
section.
(c) The State Tax Commissioner shall value all industrial
property in the state at its fair market value within three years
of the approval date of the plan for industrial property required
in subsection (e) of this section. The commissioner shall
thereafter maintain accurate values for all such property. The Tax Commissioner shall forward each industrial property appraisal to
the county assessor of the county in which that property is located
and the assessor shall multiply each such appraisal by sixty
percent and include the resulting assessed value in the land book
or the personal property book, as appropriate for each tax year.
The commissioner shall supply support data that the assessor might
need to evaluate the appraisal.
(d) Within three years of the approval date of the plan
required for natural resources property required pursuant to
subsection (e) of this section, the State Tax Commissioner shall
determine the fair market value of all natural resources property
in the state. The commissioner shall thereafter maintain accurate
values for all such property.
(1) In order to qualify for identification as managed
timberland for property tax purposes the owner must annually
certify, in writing to the Division of Forestry, that the property
meets the definition of managed timberland as set forth in this
article and contracts to manage property according to a plan that
will maintain the property as managed timberland. In addition,
each owner's certification must state that forest management
practices will be conducted in accordance with approved practices
from the publication "Best Management Practices for Forestry."
Property certified as managed timberland shall be valued according
to its use and productive potential. The Tax Commissioner shall promulgate rules for certification as managed timberland:
Provided, That no parcels of property, other than parcels on which
the owner resides, shall be classified as managed timberland,
unless these forest lands are open to public recreational
activities, including hunting, fishing, hiking and photography.
(2) In the case of all other natural resources property, the
commissioner shall develop an inventory on a county by county basis
of all such property and may use any resources, including, but not
limited to, geological survey information; exploratory, drilling,
mining and other information supplied by natural resources property
owners; and maps and other information on file with the State
Division of Environmental Protection and office of miners' health,
safety and training. Any information supplied by natural resources
owners or any proprietary or otherwise privileged information
supplied by the State Division
of Environmental Protection and
office of miner's health, safety and training shall be kept
confidential unless needed to defend an appraisal challenged by a
natural resources owner. Formulas for natural resources valuation
may contain differing variables based upon known geological or
other common factors. The Tax Commissioner shall forward each
natural resources property appraisal to the county assessor of the
county in which that property is located and the assessor shall
multiply each such appraisal by sixty percent and include the
resulting assessed value in the land book or the personal property book, as appropriate, for each tax year. The commissioner shall
supply support data that the assessor might need to explain or
defend the appraisal. The commissioner shall directly defend any
challenged appraisal when the assessed value of the property in
question exceeds two million dollars or an owner challenging an
appraisal holds or controls property situated in the same county
with an assessed value exceeding two million dollars. At least
every five years, the commissioner shall review current technology
for the recovery of natural resources property to determine if
valuation methodologies need to be adjusted to reflect changes in
value which result from development of new recovery technologies.
(e) The Tax Commissioner shall develop a plan for the
valuation of industrial property and a plan for the valuation of
natural resources property. The plans shall include expected costs
and reimbursements, and shall be submitted to the property
valuation training and procedures commission on or before the first
day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, for its
approval on or before the first day of July of such year. Such
plan shall be revised, resubmitted to the commission and approved
every three years thereafter.
(f) To perform the valuation duties under this section, the
State Tax Commissioner has the authority to contract with a
competent property appraisal firm or firms
to assist with or to
conduct the valuation process as to any discernible species of
property statewide if the contract and the entity performing such contract is specifically included in a plan required by subsection
(e) of this section or otherwise approved by the commission. If
the Tax Commissioner desires to contract for valuation services
only in one county or a group of counties, the contract must be
approved by the commission.
(g) The county assessor may accept the appraisal provided,
pursuant to this section, by the State Tax Commissioner: Provided,
That if the county assessor fails to accept the appraisal provided
by the State Tax Commissioner, the county assessor shall show just
cause to the valuation commission for the failure to accept such
appraisal and shall further provide to the valuation commission a
plan by which a different appraisal will be conducted.
(h) The costs of appraising the industrial and natural
resources property within each county, and any costs of defending
same shall be paid by the state: Provided, That the office of the
State Attorney General shall provide legal representation on behalf
of the Tax Commissioner or assessor, at no cost, in the event the
industrial and natural resources appraisal is challenged in court.
(I) For purposes of revaluing managed timberland as defined in
section two of this article, any increase or decrease in valuation
by the commissioner does not become effective prior to the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one. The property
owner may request a hearing by the Director of the Division of
Forestry, who may thereafter rescind the disqualification or allow
the property owner a reasonable period of time in which to qualify the property. A property owner may appeal a disqualification to
the circuit court of the county in which the property is located.
§11-1C-11. Managed timberland; findings, purposes and declaration
of legislative intent; implementation; inspection and
determination of qualification.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the public welfare
is enhanced by encouraging and sustaining the abundance of high
quality forest land within the state; that economic pressures may
force industrial, residential or other land development
inconsistent with sustaining the forests; and that tax policy
should provide an incentive for private owners of forest land to
preserve the character and use of land as forest land and to make
management decisions which enhance the quality of the future
forest. The Legislature further recognizes the importance of
outdoor recreational activities, such as hunting, fishing, hiking,
and photography to our state's economy. It also recognizes the
number of acres of forest land that are open to public use, and
outdoor recreation, is slowly diminishing. The Legislature finds
that tax policy should provide an incentive to private owners of
forest land to open their lands for public recreational purposes,
in return for preferential tax treatment.
(b) In exercising the authority granted by the provisions of
section fifty-three, article VI of the Constitution of West
Virginia, the Legislature makes the following declarations of its
intent:
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-four,
article three of this chapter, timberland certified by the Division
of Forestry as managed timberland shall be valued as managed
timberland as provided in this article when it is managed under a
cooperative contract with the Division of Forestry and the
certification has not been surrendered by the owner of the property
or revoked by the Director of the Division of Forestry.
The Division of Forestry shall, at the time of contracting,
notify the owner that the owner shall incur a penalty as set forth
in section five-a, article three of this chapter if the owner fails
to provide written notice to the county assessor of a change in use
of the managed timberland.
(2) Property certified as managed timberland which prior to
certification is properly taxed in Class II, as defined in section
five, article eight of this chapter and section one, article X of
the Constitution of West Virginia, may not be reclassified to Class
III or Class IV, as defined in section five, article eight of this
chapter, merely because the property is certified as managed
timberland unless there is some other event or change in the use of
the property that disqualifies it from being taxed in Class II.
(c) To aid the Legislature in assessing the impact of the
managed timberland program on the State of West Virginia, the
Division of Forestry and the Tax Commissioner, on or before the
thirty-first day of December, two thousand one, and on the
thirty-first day of December each year thereafter, shall report in writing to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance of the
Legislature or its designated subcommittee. The Tax Commissioner
shall include in his or her report a complete and accurate
assessment of the impact of the managed timberland program on the
tax collections of the state, including projected increases or
decreases in tax collection. The Division of Forestry shall
include in its report detailed information on the number of acres
designated as managed timberland and any identified impacts of the
program on the state's timber industry.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is provide tax incentives to
nonresidential owners of managed timberland to allow the general
public to use the land for recreational purposes. In furtherance
of this purpose the bill provides legislative findings.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.